[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#dbecfa” global_colors_info=”{}” locked=”off” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_row module_id=”state” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”50px||10px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Recent Op Eds” module_id=”state2070″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” header_4_font=”|700|||||||” header_4_text_color=”#006893″ text_orientation=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”30px||30px||false|false” border_width_bottom=”2px” border_color_bottom=”#164D86″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”The Time for Action” _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#006893″ text_font_size=”22px” text_line_height=”1em” text_orientation=”center” min_height=”26px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Florida, the Seas are Rising and the Time is Short<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay Times, May 18, 2023<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_text_color=”#006893″ text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n In the 1970s, an iconic commercial filled the airwaves promoting a margarine that was supposed to taste just as good as real butter.\u00a0 At the end, a hippie earth mother with flowers in her hair intoned, \u201cIt\u2019s not nice to fool Mother Nature.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps a more accurate statement is, \u201cYou can\u2019t fool Mother Nature.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But we keep trying anyhow.<\/span><\/p>\n After the impacts of Hurricanes Ian, Nicole, Michael and more have dominated the headlines in Florida for several years now, our state seems to be having the same discussions:\u00a0 How quickly can we rebuild damaged and destroyed roads, bridges, and homes, how soon can we armor our coasts to lessen future damage, when can we get back to \u201cnormal\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, South Florida is staggering from an \u201cunprecedented\u201d 1000-year storm event, with rainfall equaling that of a high-powered hurricane.\u00a0 Fort Lauderdale received almost 26 inches of rain over a 24-hour period, with more on the way.\u00a0 \u00a0Hundreds have been rescued, the airport is closed through at least Friday morning, several exits on I-95 have been shut, and assessment of the full damage has yet to start.<\/span><\/p>\n While not on the same scale, Volusia and Flagler County residents are lamenting that they could not rebuild their seawalls \u2013 damaged from coastal erosion caused by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole \u2013 in time to stave off further damage from this week\u2019s storm.<\/span><\/p>\n It is clear our changing climate is bringing increasing challenges to Florida.\u00a0 In March, 1000 Friends of Florida and the University of Florida Center for Landscape Conservation Planning released the GIS-based Florida\u2019s Rising Seas:\u00a0 Mapping Our Future<\/em>. Intended to guide Floridians to a clearer understanding of the vulnerability of our state\u2019s lands, waters, and communities to the combined impacts of population growth, sea level rise, and development patterns, this project underlines the need to better plan for the future.<\/span><\/p>\n The Sea Level 2040 component indicates that within two decades, Florida\u2019s population could grow by almost 5 million more residents and lose a million acres of land to sea level rise, resulting in the need to relocate more than 200,000 residents.\u00a0 Of course, South Florida would be hit particularly hard with more than 36,000 residents in Miami-Dade, 18,000 in Lee and 15,000 in Broward counties facing relocation.<\/span><\/p>\n By 2070, Florida could have more than 12 million more residents, 1.7 million acres of land lost to sea level rise, and more than 900,000 residents needing to relocate, with more than half of them in South Florida alone.<\/span><\/p>\n It’s time to pivot the conversation from returning to \u201cnormal\u201d to identifying how to plan for the \u201cnew normal.\u201d\u00a0 This involves tough conversations about where we should and shouldn\u2019t allow development and redevelopment in Florida, whether it is sound public policy to continue taxpayer investment in roads and other infrastructure in vulnerable areas, how to protect natural lands that can buffer the impacts of storms and flooding in urban areas, and how to make \u201cwhole\u201d residents who have experienced the trauma of losing everything.<\/span><\/p>\n